Background
Aníbal Pinto Garmendia was born on 15 March 1825 in Santiago.
Aníbal Pinto Garmendia was born on 15 March 1825 in Santiago.
He began a professional diplomatic career as secretary of the Chilean Legation in Rome in 1848, where he remained for three years. After returning home, he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1852 and continued there until elected to the Senate in 1870. During most of the administration of President Federico Errázuriz Zañartu (1871-1876), he was minister of war and navy, and in the election of 1876, he was the government’s candidate, backed by the National Party and most Liberals. He came to office in the midst of a serious economic recession.